Holes of Life
by Samantha Tragedy
Summary: Seth? What's going on? What's wrong? Ryan, man, you gotta get down here. Why? What's wrong? He asked grabbing his jacket and keys.
1. The Lost World

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 1 The Lost World**

**A/N Okay guys here you are. This takes place about a year after the finale of Chrismukkah Sweeps the Nation. If you didn't read that don't worry you'll still understand this fic. Thanks to all who reviewed Chrismukkah! We love you! **

"Daddy! Your home!" Bridget came running out to the door.

"Bridget!" he laughed as he lifted her into his arms. "How was your day sweatheart?

"Awesome!" She exclaimed before going into a 5 minute play-by-play of her entire day. He often wondered how he had gotten such a talkative kid.

"And where are your brother and sister?" She rolled her eyes as she climbed off her dad's lap.

"Elliot is in the playroom and Paige is in her room." She said matter-of-factly as she walked away. Ryan laughed to himself. His kids were the best things that ever happened to him.

"Ryan! Your home." Marissa gave him a kiss before continuing. "We have to go to Seth and Summer's in an hour. And tomorrow we have Elliot's soccer game. Please don't make me call Kirsten and ask her to kick you out of the office again." He smiled at the memory.

"I promise I'll be on time." Just then the phone rang and Marissa got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Marissa? It's Seth. I need to talk to Ryan. Now."

"Okay. Is everything alright?" She asked concerned.

"No. You should take the kids over to my house and stay the night. Tell Summer no one is in any danger and everything will be fine. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll get Ryan." She walked into the living room. "Ryan, it's Seth. Something's wrong." Marissa was scared and Ryan could see it. He jumped up and ran over to the phone she was holding out to him.

"Seth? What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Ryan, man, you gotta get down here."

"Why? What's wrong?" He asked grabbing his jacket and keys.

"This kid just came in. He says his name is Parker and his mom's name is Theresa and your his father. Ryan, he looks just like you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time Marissa got to Summer's house she was in tears.

"Coop! What's wrong?" Summer flung open the door and ushered the Atwood clan inside.

"Seth called. He said something was wrong."

**A/N So what do you guys think? This story will be four chapters long. And Seth and Summer won't play much of a part. But in the sequel to this one it will be more even. Please review and tell me what you think! **


	2. Field of Dreams

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 2 Field of Dreams**

**A/N Okay guys here is the second chapter hope you like it. Sorry it took me a while to update. I had some personal stuff going on**

Ryan drove as fast as he could to his brother's office. He parked his car and ran up the steps. When he got to Seth's office he opened the door. All the while a million different thoughts had been running through his head. He looked to his right and there, sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair, was his son.

"Ryan," Seth said. "This is Parker."

Parker, unsure of what to do, stuck out his hand. "Hi"

"Hi" Ryan breathed as he shook his son's hand. "I'm so, so sorry. She said she had a miscarriage. If I had known-"

"I know she told me."

"Why don't we sit down." Seth suggested. "We have a lot to discuss."

Ryan soon learned Theresa had married some guy named John. John was the average Chino guy. A drunk, an addict, and an abuser. One of Parker's friends told him about his lawyer, Seth Cohen, and the picture on his desk.

The picture in question was one of Seth and Ryan when Ryan had first come to live with them. Ryan looked exactly the same as the kid sitting next to him now.

Soon after Parker had found out about Seth, his step father and mother's abuse got worse. He felt his only choice was a lawyer.

"Well, we have to get you out of that house." Seth began.

"What? No!" Parker interuppted.

"Parker, you can't stay there. It's dangerous." Ryan stated. "What did you expect to happen when you came to a lawyer's office."

"I don't know! But you can't take me out of that house."

"Actually, Parker, we can." Seth looked from Parker to Ryan then back again. "I can call child protective services and have you removed from your mother's custody."

"NO! God, I knew this would be a mistake! I can't beleive I actually came here!" He made a move for the door, but Ryan blocked him.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you leave. Now before you were game for getting help. Yet at the mention of getting out of that house your against us. Why?"

"I'm not going into foster care! And I won't leave my sisters and brother! If I leave them no one will take care of them or protect them! I can't leave!"

"Parker." Seth began as Ryan steered him back into a chair. "We will take all of you out of that house."

"And you won't go into foster care." Ryan said. "You'll all come live with me and my family."

Parker was stunned. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me Parker," Ryan said looking his son in the eye. "If you don't come live with me, sooner or later you'll end up either in jail or just like your step father."

"No one has ever done anything like this for me before."

"I'll start the paper work now and tomorrow we'll all go pick up your siblings." Seth smiled, incredibly pleased with himself and how well everything had gone.

"Hey, uh Seth?" Ryan said.

"What?"

"I wouldn't get to cocky. Summer and Marissa are going to kill you for scaring them so badly." Seth's smile quickly faded.

**A/N Okay guys! Two chapters left in this story before the next sequel! if you are confused about something ask! I'll try to update as soon as I can.I just need to type it up. Sorry it's so short! The last chapter will be much longer! **

**Spoilers**

**How does Parker fit in**

**Ryan and Parker talk**

**An encounter with Theresa and John**


	3. Chances

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 3 Chances**

**AN Hey Everyone sorry this took so incredibly long to update. I swear it will never take that long again. But I have good reasons! I have a lot of _really _hard classes this year. Plus my extra curriculars include: Drama, Drama Club, Forensics, Mock Trial, LYO, Volunteering, and a job search so dont kill me- here is the very long awaited chapter.**

After Seth called to explain and recieved a few very loud choice words from Summer, Ryan took Parker to his car and tryed to get to know him.

"So Parker how old are you?"

"14."

"I-" Ryan started but was unsure of what to say. Fortunatly for him however Parker knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"What?" _Wow, that came out of nowhere._ Ryan thought.

"Why are you inviting me and three other kids you don't even know to live with you?"

"Because, Parker, you are my son. The day my kids were born I swore I would never let anything bad happen to them. Now that I know about you, I won't let anything happen to you either. I swear."

"Okay. I understand you feel obligated to take care of me but-"

"Hey! I'm not doing this because I feel I have to. I'm doing this because I want to and I care."

"Yeah, sure, okay." An unconvinced Parker continued. "but that still doesn't answer why you want my brother and sisters. They aren't even your kids."

"No, but they are your siblings. And you are my son. By the way, what are their names and how old are they?"

"Alana is 8, Erica is 7, and Dylan is 5."

"Okay, My son Elliot is 8. And my daughters Paige and Bridget are 6 and 5. Plus Seth has kids around the same ages as well."

"Did you marry Marissa Cooper?"

"Yes, How do you know about her?"

"My mother told me. She said she was the reason I didn't have a father." He said with bitterness in his voice.

"No. That's not true. And I don't want you to think that."

"Whatever." The teen replied as he leaned his head against the glass window and closed his eyes. Ryan reconized this as the kids way of telling him he didn't want to talk anymore.

They pulled into the Atwood drive way a little while later to be greeted at the door by an extremely nervous Marissa.

"Ryan! I was so worried until Seth called, then I just didn't know what to think when I-" She aburtly stopped speaking as soon as she saw her husband's carbon copy come sheepishly up next to him.

"Marissa this is Parker. Parker this is my wife Marissa."

"Nice to meet you." Parker half wispered half spoke.

"Of-of course, likewise. Come in. Malika has just finished making up the guest room. You can stay in there for the night."

"Parker?' Ryan came into the guest room 20 minutes later. "Are you hungary? Would you like something to eat?"

"No, thanks. I think I would just like to sleep." He replied as politely as possible. Ryan didn't know fourteen year olds were even capable of being polite.

"Of course. I'll see you in the morning."

After Ryan left Parker sat on his bed and thought for a long time. This was not good. He was going to be in so much trouble when he got home for staying out all night. John would never let him forget this one. His parents may not have cared about his well-being but they needed him as a punching bag and to make beer runs for them.

This guy, his "father", there was no way he would want to keep him for more than 2 weeks. Sure right now he was being all nice and kind. Just to get Parker to trust him. But soon that would wear off and it would be just like with his parents only possibly worse. And that was a chance he didn't want to take. He had to leave.

**AN Okay I know I made you wait forever for this chapter so I couldn't be so cruel as to leave it there. So here is the next chapter as well.**


	4. Running

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 4 Running**

**AN Just realized this wasn't in the first chapter Disclaimer I own nothing. If I did Adam Brody would have more presence in my bedroom than just a poster on my wall.**

Parker grabbed his stuff and waited till 1 a.m. He looked out his window. He was on the third floor. It was a really long way down, but there was a big sturdy looking tree just outside. He would have no problem escaping.

He pushed the window open and threw his bag down to the ground hoping it wouldn't make to much noise when it hit. He put one leg out and grabbed a branch with his left hand. The he grabbed another branch slightly lower than the first with his right hand. And swung himself out the window and onto the tree. He then slowy worked his way down the tree until the ground was about four feet away when he jumped.

He grabbed his bag and ran across the lawn and through the gate at the front of the house. That was when he realized. He was 14, had no money, and no idea where he was. He looked back at the house.

It was huge. Four stories. He had probably only seen one small-

"Hey!" A voice jolted him out of his thoughts and back to earth. He looked for the owner of the voice and saw a security gaurd about 20 ft away slowy making his way toward him.

Chino survival skills kicking in, Parker took off down the street. He was faster than the guy chasing him but he was trapped the instant he saw a cop car blocking his path uphead with 2 police officers ready to trap him.

He slowed when they started to come toward him. He didn't want to get arrested. Having the cops bring him home would not make Theresa or John very happy.

Officer Weber took one look at the kid and knew he was an Atwood. Hell, he had gone to college with Ryan. But he never mentioned anything about having another son.

"Hey kid, come on, we're not going to hurt you." He said his hands gestured in a calming manner. _Jeez _he thought _this kid looks ready to bolt at any second. Why would one of Ryan's kids be out this late at night looking like this?_

"We're just going to take you back to your dad's house okay?"

"No!" Parker pleaded. "I don't want to go there."

"Kid, I have no choice I have to take you home, What's your name?" The kid ignored the question.

"You can't take me there. I need to go home."

"That's where we're taking you." The officer, now very confused said as they put Parker in the car and started to drive him back to the Atwood estate.

"No! You don't understand! I don't live there! I live with my mother. That's where I need to go."

The officer looked back at Parker noticing fo the first time the bruises on his neck. "Did your mother give you those bruises?" From the look in Parkers eyes he knew imediatly that his assumption was correct. "I'm sorry, but we have to take you to your father's."

Parker sighed as he leaned back into his seat. It had been a long day. And it ws about to get longer.

Back at the Atwood Residance, Ryan unable to sleep had gone into check on Parker not 2 minutes after he had left. Finding a room completly void of Parker he quickly woke Marissa.The two of them checked the rest of the house as fast as possible only to find the nothing. Ryan began to panic he was just about to call the police when he heard the door bell ring.

Running as fast as he could to the door with his wife hot on his heels he pulled it open reveiling a resigned looking Parker and his friend from college, Officer Weber.

"Thank God you are okay Parker!" Ryan exclaimed in relief as he grabbed Parker and hugged him. Parker froze. No one had ever given him a real hug before, not one like this anyway, and he wasn't sure how to respond. Ryan pushed Parker further into the house as he turned back to the officers.

"Jake! Thank you so much!" Ryan said as he shock his friends hand.

"No problem Ryan. But I noticed he had bruises all over his neck. I assume they are from his mother. I also assume you won't be allowing her contact?"

"No. And I'm so sorry for you trouble. It's his first night with us."

"Oh it's no trouble at all. And Ryan, please don't hesitate to call us if you have trouble with the mother or stepfather."

Ryan laughed at this. His friend knew him all to well. "Don't worry. I won't."

**AN Okay everyone I will try my best to update tomorrow otherwise it will most likely be next weekend. However, reviews can change that! So just hit that little purple box! Come on I know you want to! Questions and requests for spoilers wil be answered. I promise!**


	5. Goodnight

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 5 Goodnight**

**AN It won't let me log in! This will be up as soon as it allows me to login!**

"What the hell were you thinking! Running away like that is not going to look good if your mother takes this to court for a custody battle! Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Ryan looked at Parker who was refusing to look him in the eye. Marissa had left only a few moments before to let Ryan deal with his son.

"Look at me!" Parker was shaking in fear that Ryan was going to hit him. That's why he wasn't looking up. He knew the instant he did Ryan would turn one of his eyes black.

"I'm sorry, okay!" He said.

"Look at me." Ryan said again as he gently placed a hand on Parker's shoulder. He felt him tense imediatly. Finally realizing the reason Parker was hardly acknowledging him, Ryan placed his hand under Parker's chin and gently but firmly forced him to look at him.

"Hey. Your safe here okay? No one is going to hurt you ever again. Do you understand?" Parker looked at Ryan not really sure of weather he was telling the truth of not but realizing he didn't really have a choice. This guy was going to fight for him and his siblings. And by the looks of it, he had a lot of money which meant a lot of friends in high places which meant of course, he'd win.

"Y-yes."

"Okay, now, why did you try to run away?" Parker looked at the man who was suppossed to be his father. He didn't know how to answer. No one had ever cared enough to ask those kinds of questions before.

"I-I-"He stuttered.

"Just tell me the truth."

"I didn't think you actually wanted to keep me. I mean I was just realized how angry John would be when he found out I didn't come home. Then when they find out where I am now. I'm dead."

"No. Parker, I need you to understand that you are here for good. Tomorrow Seth and I are going to take you back home, your going to get your stuff, then we are going to come back here and start a new life as a family."

"Okay. I believe you."

"Good. Now, why don't we go and try to get at least a few hours of sleep. Because trust me, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"Okay."

"Goodnight, Parker."

"Goodnight Mr. Atwood."

"Ryan."

"Ryan."

**AN I know it's short! But I'll update again really soon! I swear! I'm already starting to type! Now Review! Review! Review! Look for Chapter Six later tonight or tomorrow. It's already over half finished and twice as long as this one!**


	6. AN

2 words: Pain, Hospital

I will do my best to update soon.

Samantha Tragedy


	7. Dad

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 6 Dad**

The next day came all to soon for Ryan. He was truly dreading having to go see what had become of Theresa. He got up and went down stairs to see Parker sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen. He chuckled at how alike they truly were.

"You ready for today?" Ryan asked him.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Well, then, let's go." They went out to the car where Ryan once again tried to engage Parker in conversation.

"So, why don't you tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

"How about school?"

"I hate it."

"Why is that?"

"Because." Parker stated matter-of-factly as he turned to look out the window. A few minutes later they pulled up to Seth's office and watched as he fought his way down the stairs stepping over boxes on his way. Ryan laughed when he got to the bottom and smirked at his accomplishment, then being so proud didn't watch his next step and fell face first into a pile of packaging foam.

"You so never saw that. Got it?" Seth dusted himself off as he got into the passenger seat of Ryan's car.

"Whatever Seth."

"Hey Parker." Seth acknowledged the kid in the backseat.

"Hey." He replied quietly back. Parker didn't like Seth. Seth was the one forcing him to do this. Seth was the one making him live with Ryan. Seth was the one changing his life forever.

"You ready for this kid?" Ryan asked 45 minutes later as they pulled up to Theresa's house.

"If I said no, would you still make me do it?" Seth and Ryan looked at each other than back at Parker.

"Parker, this is for the best-"

"Yea, save it. Let's just get it over with." He opened his door and began to walk towards the house. Ryan and Seth quickly followed.

Just before they were about to open the door however, it swung open violently hitting the outside wall. It was soon followed by a very angry man whom Seth and Ryan assumed to be John.

"WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT!" The man screamed at the young teen. "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STAYING OUT ALL NIGHT AND MAKING YOUR MOTHER WORRY LIKE THAT?"

Not waiting for an answer the man made a grab for the kid and was about to punch him when Ryan grabbed Parker's shoulder and pulled him away from the man. Just as he was doing this Theresa came out of the house.

"What the hell-" She cut herself off when she saw Parker and Ryan pulling away from John.

"Parker! Ryan! What the hell is going on here?" Ryan couldn't believe it. She had turned out just like Dawn. He was so stunned that he loosened his grip on Parker, who immediately jumped on John and, catching the man off guard, knocked him to the ground and started hitting him any where he could. For a 14 year old he could hit pretty damn hard.

John started hitting back extremely fast for someone so drunk. Ryan, seeing this, pulled Parker off his step-father and held him back as John started to get up. Seth, knowing what was about to happen, went into lawyer mode.

Stepping forward as he spoke, "Excuse me Mr. And Mrs. Brixus. I'm Seth Cohen, attorney at law.

"You brought a lawyer here boy!" John yelled.

"Excuse me! I have reason to believe that your home is an unsafe environment for children and will be removing all said children from your care immediately."

"What! NO! You can't take my kids! I won't let you!"

"Theresa!" Ryan interrupted still holding onto a struggling Parker. "It's either this and the kids come live with me or we get social services involved complete with foster care. You decide."

At the mention of social services both Theresa and John immediately shut up.

"I'll take that as you choosing me."

"Parker. Go inside and get your siblings and anything you guys want to bring with you." Parker pulled out of Ryan's grasp and went inside.

Everyone waited outside for about 5 minutes till Parker came back out followed shortly by 3 more kids.

The youngest of the 3, whom Ryan knew to be Dylan, was questioning his older brother.

"Parker, What's going on? Where are we going? Who are they?" He asked spotting Ryan and Seth.

"Would you just shut up!" He yelled. At the shouting the younger child immediately began to cry and ran over to the oldest of the girls. Parker instantly felt bad. "Hey, Dylan, come on, I'm sorry I shouted. I'm not mad at you."

"Parker," Ryan said. "Come on just get in the car. We can take care of it later." Seth had already started to walk to the car with the three youngest kids following.

"Fine." They pulled out of the drive way 3 minutes later. Parker sat, looking out the window and trying to forget.

_God _he thought _this guy has got to be crazy taking in four kids when he already has three others. Why does he even want me? I mean he has the perfect life. I'm only going to complicate things. And hitting John is defiantly not going to help the situation either. At least Alana, Erica, and Dylan are the same ages as his other kids. Maybe now they wouldn't bug me so much. _

_I can't believe I'm leaving. I shouldn't be. I can't believe I didn't tell her. I should have gone to tell her. She'll never forgive me for this. She'll think I'm running from her. But I'm not! I don't want this! I never should have gone to see that stupid lawyer! God! I'm so stupid!_

The group arrived back home and after dropping Seth off at his office, Ryan focused on getting them all to his house. He knew this wouldn't be easy. Going from raising 3 kids no older than eight to 6 kids under eight plus a teenager. Oh yes. This would most defiantly be fun.

They pulled up to his house a few moments later and slowly everyone piled out as Marissa came out. Kirsten followed and so did Elliot, Paige, and Bridget. He knew what Marissa had told them- That they were getting 4 new brothers and sisters. And that they were probably going to act differently, at least for a while, until they got used to living like them. Elliot seemed to understand what was going on. After all, he was eight years old. Old enough to understand that not all kids had it as nice as he did.

"Everyone," Ryan said to Marissa, Kirsten, and his kids. "I would like you to meet Parker, Alana, Erica, and Dylan. They will be living with us from now on. Okay?"

After all the introductions had been finished the "new" kids grabbed their things from Ryan's car and went into the mansion the Atwood's called home.

They had enough bedrooms in the house for all of the kids to have their own. Ryan and Marissa weren't sure how many kids they had wanted so they made sure to get a house with many, many bedrooms.

As Kirsten and Marissa took Elliot, Paige, and Bridget to the Kitchen for a snack, Ryan showed his new children around the house.

"Dylan, this will be your room. Marissa will take all of you shopping tomorrow for clothes and stuff to decorate your bedroom and stuff for school, which by the way you all start on Tuesday."

Dylan went into the room and looked around. "Do you like it?" Ryan asked.

"I love it!" The boy smiled and ran to Ryan and gave him a hug.

"Good. It's all yours." This was how it went with all the kids. They all loved their rooms. Ryan was about to show Parker his when Marissa called them all down.

Summer called and wanted to take all of her kids plus all of Marissa's, both new and old, shopping today. It was only one in the afternoon and with everything they would need to buy it might just take them two days. Ryan rolled his eyes but agreed. He had no idea why Kirsten, Summer, and Marissa found the idea of walking around a huge building with nine children between the ages of eight and five to be fun. But he agreed all the same.

"Parker you can have the choice stay here or go shopping." Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Stay."

"Smart kid." Ryan stated. Marissa laughed and walked out the door with Kirsten. Six kids following behind them.

"So, Parker." Ryan started and Parker knew right away that this was going to be about what had happened at his mother's house. "You want to tell me why you did it."

"Not really."

"That wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for."

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Parker was getting frustrated, Ryan could tell.

"I want you to tell me why you hit John."

"Because I felt like it."

"Parker, come on. I know what your life was like okay. I was you not too long ago. I know you did it for revenge, but you need to understand that you're in a different place now. Fighting is not an acceptable form of communicating your anger. Do you understand."

"Yes."

"Are you going to remember this the next time you want to fight someone?"

"No." Ryan sighed. _Well at least the kid was honest._

"Okay, Parker. You're in high school right?"

"Yep."

"That means you will be a freshmen at one of the best high schools in the country on Tuesday. This place is going to be full of stuck-up, rich kids, whose faces you are going to want to level-"

"But I'm not going to be able to do that. I'll have to 'control my temper' and be good. Right?"

"Right. Now I told you before this school was good. So I'm going to need to know why it was you hated school before?"

"That's really none of your business." Parker said looking Ryan in the eyes.

"Yes, it is Parker. It became my business the minute you walked through Seth's door. "

"Which I never should have done!" Parker screamed.

Ryan quickly realized that this kid did not trust him not to hurt him or kick him out at a moments notice. This kid was just like he was when he came to live with the Cohen's.

"Parker, If you had stayed at that house you would have ended up either dead, in jail, or just like John. Now you and all of your siblings have a chance-"

"No!" His son interrupted "We had a chance there too! Here it will be worse! WE DON'T BELONG HERE! WE BELONG WITH OUR MOTHER!"

Just then Parker ran out of the kitchen and towards the front door. However Ryan was quicker and grabbed him by the arm.

"You're not going anywhere."

As soon as Ryan touched him, Parker tensed and started to fight him off. But Ryan wasn't letting go.

"Let go of me! I'm sorry I shouted! Don't hurt me! Please let go of me!" Parker pleaded with the man who was his new father.

Ryan's heart broke when Parker said this. With his right hand on Parker's shoulder he pulled the kid into a hug and waited for him to stop fighting. He didn't stop though. For the next five minutes Ryan just held him as he did anything in his power to get away from him. Parker was sobbing by this time and he was getting weaker with each punch.

Finally the kid exhausted himself and relaxed into Ryan's arms. Ryan held him as he cried his eyes out. Neither one saying anything. They didn't know how long they stood there for with Parker's sobs filling the room before Ryan spoke.

"I will never ever hurt you Parker. I don't want you ever to be afraid of coming to me. I don't care what you have done. Marissa and I will always be here for you. And we will never hurt you or your siblings. You don't have to be the parent anymore. Do you understand me?

"Thank you." Parker whispered. "Thank you so much." Then, so quite that it took Ryan a while to realize it was Parker who had said it, "Dad."

**A/N Hey everyone! A long update! Okay. I was in a mild car accident last Wednesday and the one before that I was in the hospital. So i will have some more free time and I will try to update again this weekend. As for reviews I try to reply and they motivate me sooo much but it just isn't possible, with my other story as well, to keep up with reviews from both. So please review! But don't hate me if I can't answer! **


	8. Like the Secret Place Inside Your Soul

**Holes of Life**

**By Samantha Tragedy**

**Chapter 7 Like the Secret Place Inside Your Soul**

**A/N Okay. I rewrote this 4 times! And I'm still not very happy with it. But whatever. Here you go. Oh and the title is from the song _Say Goodnight Not Goodbye_. Which I don't own.**

A few days later and it's Tuesday morning. The house is a mess with all the kids getting ready to leave. Alana, Erica, and Dylan had quickly become acclammated to their new life. Elliot, Paige, and Bridget had also gotten used to their new siblings quickly. Summer had brought her kids over yesterday and the nine of them had had a great time. Everyone was happy. Everyone except Parker.

"Elliot! Get up this instant!" Marissa shouted up the stairs. She turned back to the table and smiled. Ryan was at the head of the table with Parker sitting to his right. Next to Parker was Dylan, then Alana, then Erica. Marissa took her place at the opposite end from Ryan. Next to her was Bridget, then Paige, and then, just as she was about to shout up the stairs again, Elliot came sliding into his seat next to his sister.

"So nice of you to finally decide to join us." Ryan said. "That happens again tomorrow, no video games for the rest of the week. Got it?"

"Whatever."

"So, Parker," Marissa changed the topic. "Are you excited for school? Ryan and I have a lot of memories at that place."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Parker hated Marissa even more than Seth.

"I'm going to take Parker to the high school. Are you going to take the rest to Harbor Elementary?" Ryan asked.

"Kirsten is going to be here any second. She's going take Elliot, Paige, and Alana. I'm going to take Dylan, Bridget, and Erica." Just as she finished saying this the doorbell rang and Paige ran to answer it.

"Grandma!" She said as she gave Kirsten a hug. "You're taking me to school today!"

"I know sweetheart. Are you ready?"

"Yep! Alana! Elliot! Let's go!"

"Paige. In door voice please." Marissa scolded as her daughter rolled her eyes.

"Whatever mom."

"I want to go with Grandma!" Bridget said as she ran to Kirsten.

Kirsten laughed and bent down to talk to the child. "Oh Honey, Your mommy is taking you to school with Dylan and Erica. It'll be way more fun than riding with me."

"Okay! Come on Mommy! Let's go! Today is show and tell and Katie P. is bringing her new Malibu Princess Deluxe First Edition Signature Pink Barbie Car!"

"Yeah and who would want to miss _that_." Elliot said as he walked out of the house.

"Elliot! Be nice. And have a good day at school! Someone will pick you up to take you to basketball practice okay?"

"Bye!"

"Bye kids! Be good!" Ryan shouted after them. "Marissa, you should be leaving too."

"Yeah and so should you. I'll see you tonight. Love you. Bye."

"Okay Parker. You got all your stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then let's go." Ryan led him out to the car. Parker opened his door, tossed his backpack in and then flopped into his seat. Ryan sighed as they pulled out of the driveway. "Parker, come on. I know you don't want to do this, but you don't have a choice. You have to go to school. And I expect you to get good grades."

"Yeah, sure,whatever."

"Hey, will you please tell me why you hate school so much."

"I've never been to school with out her."

"Without who?"

"Jenna."

"Who's Jenna?"

"The best friend I've ever had."

"Is that why you think you belong in back in Chino?"

"I guess that's part of it." Parker was looking at his hands again. Ryan glanced at him while keeping one eye on the road.

"Hey, Parker. You and I are really going to need to start working on looking people in the eyes. Now, why didn't you tell me about Jenna?"

"It's not like I really had the chance to. Besides she probably hates me now."

"Why would she hate you?"

"Because I left. I promised her we would leave together. I said we would get out, move to a good city together, buy a house, and never come back." Parker was staring out the window as he said this. He kept his face emotionless and, unlike Ryan, his eyes never showed a thing. "And now she thinks I left without her. I never should have gone to see the lawyer."

"You did the right thing. Your safe now. And you're right. Jenna does, most likely, think you've ditched her." As soon as he said this Parker face got even more cold. "But when you call her tonight and explain to her what happened, she'll probably be happy for you."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now aside from the fight I know you are going to get into today, school shouldn't be a problem."

Parker laughed and Ryan smiled. He had never seen Parker laugh before and he loved it. He couldn't wait to see him laugh again.

"Hey, don't worry I promise I'll pick someone much bigger than me. That way they'll at least have a chance."

"Yeah okay. Just as long as they look worse than you do and they start it. That way you can't get punished by the school. But fair warning. If you do actually get in a fight today, I won't be happy. Okay? So please at least try to give it a chance."

"I guess I could give it shot."

"Thank you."

"But I'm still not promising anything."

**A/N Okay Count of three 1...2...3 AAAAWWWW! Yeah. I'm capable of writing fluff. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and wished me well. I'm feeling much better! I had Fun in Mad Town yesterday. And next weekend I'm going to Green Bay. And Sunday I have a job interview! Cross your fingers! So I don't know when the next update will be. But it will be soon!**

**Next up: Parker goes to school and meets his new classmates, someone visits Marissa.**


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